Shank connection for the presser foot of a sewing machine and method of producing same



Oct. 17, 1950 F. VANADIA SHANK CONNECTION FOR THE PRESSER FOOT OF A SEWING MACHINE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME Filed Sept. 12, 1946 INVEN TOR.

- ram/r 1 4/1 40/4 Patented Oct. 17, 1950 FOOT OF A SEWING MACHINE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME Frank Vanadia, Mount Vernon, N. Y.

Application September 12, 1946, Serial No. 696,399

3 Claims. (01. 112--235) This invention relates to a method of making presser footstructures for sewing machines, and further concerns the formation of the shank for such presser foo-t structures.

Known methods for manufacturing and finishing presser foot structures for sewing machines necessitate rather complicated and expensive operations, which for different presser foot widths had to be varied and changed to the extent, that for each presser foot width a corresponding shank or holder therefor had to be produced and kept in stock.

The present invention intends to overcome these and other disadvantages inherent in known manufacturing methods and contemplates the provision of means for obtaining a new shank structure capable of being easily adapted to fit various presser foot widths.

It is, therefore, an important object of the I present invention to provide means for producing the end of the shank for foot pieces of the aforesaid type which is independently shaped so as to be easily and readily associated or connected with presser foot pieces, the attachment being either rigid or pivotal.

It is another object of this invention to provide a. simplified method saving labor, time and material for making from a single elongated piece of substantially fiat and cold steel material presser foot shanks whose ends or extremities may be conveniently bent or otherwise formed to be fittingly inserted in a recess or between the flanges of presser foot pieces having various widths and different spaces between said flanges to which said shanks are to be applied. A further object of this invention is to provide means facilitat ng the change of the shank end as to Width' and centricity relatively to the foot piece and the fitting of the end of a presser foot shank in the foot piece.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide means offering the possibility of shaping by cutting and/or overlapping the end of the shank for presser foot pieces whereby one-and the same shank may be employed for'connection with various shapes of foot pieces.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new presser foot structure derived from the above mentioned methods, which is inexpensive to manufacture, is of simple and practical construction, and can be applied to vari ous types of sewing and like machines.

Other objects of the invention will in part be "obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in

which:

Fig. 1 shows, respectively, a front view and a side elevational view of a blank from which the shank for a presser foot is produced;

Figs. 2 to 4 illustrate respective steps in the manufacturing method of the shank;

Fig. 2 shows frontand side-elevational views, respectively, of said shank after completion of one of the first forming steps;

Fig. 3 is a side-elevational view of the shank shaped according to a further step; i

Fig. 4 shows front view and side-elevational view of the shank in a form prior to its assembly with a, presserfoot;

Fig. 5 illustrates front, side and end views of the finished shank after completion of drilling operations;

Fig. 6 shows, respectively, front and side-elevational views of the shank in assembled condition and pivotally applied to one type of presser foot;

Figs. '7 and 8 illustrate each a modified embodiment of the invention, showing the shank end shaped to provide a reinforced vertically extending base;

Fig. '7 showing side-elevational views of a blank of an elongated shank and further of the shank progressively developed and finally a side-elevational' view of the shank with a finished, reinforced base;

Fig.8 shows side-elevational views of a twopiece shank with the base seen in two different developing stages;

Fig. 9' discloses front and side-elevational views of a modified shank with a reinforced horizontal base.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, there are shown several steps employed in the manufacturing method of a presser foot structure made in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 1 shows a front view and side-elevational view of the shank it made from a length of a flat cold rolled steel material provided with head portion H and base portion 12. The shank blank i8 is obtained by a suitable known stamping operation from a length of a substantially flat steel piece (not shown), as may be easily realized.

Shank blank it is subsequently subjected to a die-forming operation in which the lobes Ha and lib will be bent parallel to each other, whereas the lowermost part 22a of the base portion l2 has been substantially rectangularly bent about the horizontal axis of said portion [2, so that in a further forming operation part 82a will assume a substantially inclined position, as shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 4 shows further development in the shaping of the shank which is then provided between flanges or lobes Na and lib with a cut-out M to thereby form an upright mounting to facilitate attachment of the shank with the known foot bar (not shown) of a sewingmachine.

Base portion H2, in this stage of "the forming operation, consists of the overlap portion 12a which is so arranged with its lowermost edge that the inclined edge portion l5 substantially coincides with the upper inclined edge it of base portion l2, as may be visualized from Fig. 4, whereas the length of the lower straight edge portion ll corresponds approximately to the width of the intermediate portion l3 of shank I0. Thus, correspondingly shaped side edges of the end portion coincide with each other and a reinforced or thickened (overlap) s'hankbase or base portion 263 is obtained which may be further subjected to a die pressing action by which the intermediate portion i3 is so shaped that the outer edge l3 of the thickened or reinforced base portion at will lie substantially in alignment with the outer edge E9 of the fiange portions Ma and Ill) of the shank E8. The shank may then be ground and finally subjected to drilling operations so as to obtain a horizontal bore or opening 2A in said reinforced end portion adjacent the location of the inner bend of the folded extension or overlap Ma and also a recess 22, the latter forming a bearing for a spiral spring 23 (Fig. 6) whereas opening 2! is adapted to receive a pin 25 for pivotally connecting the enlarged base portion 2i; in position within the shoe slot provided between the flanges 24, 24a of the .shoe or presser foot proper. The shoe 28, in this instance, is urged by the action of the aforesaid spring 23 (Fig. 6) to assume an angular position with respect to the shank H3 and may swing about an axis perpendicular or crosswise to the plane of the remainder of the shank IE Fig. 7 shows a modification of the construction of the shank blank 30, whose lower end or base portion 3! is somewhat longer than that indicated by numeral H2 in Fig. 1. Fig. '7 shows'in two consecutive steps how the end 3! is bent to first overlap somewhat the intermediate shank portion 32, and then the manner by which the extremity of the shank portion 3! is bent in meander form to overlapping position with respect to the remainder of the shank to obtain portions Sid and 31b forming a base portion 33 of increased thickness.

Fig. 8 shows a further modification according to which the shank All is provided with a forklike extension il i. This fork-like extension forms the base portion of the shank 48 and may be welded to or may be formed integrally with the intermediate portion 42 of the shank. In the present instance, the end of the intermediate ortion 12 is welded at 43 to the fork-shaped end M whose prongs or fingers M and 45 may be subsequently bent to overlap the reinforced or enlarged base end 46, as can be visualized from Fig. 8, which shows said base 5% with a thickened end in final position.

It is, of course, understood that one of the prongs M or 45 may be cut off, if it were desired to obtain a base portion with a reduced thickness as compared to that shown in Fig. 8.

Thus, it will be noticed that one and the same standard shank may be readily conformed to various sizes and shapes of presser foot structures and for connection therewith, whereby such structures may be produced in an economicaland less expensive manner.

It is obvious that the end of the shank may not only be formed with its overlap extending in vertical direction and in contact with the intermediate shank portion, as hereinabove described, but may also be shaped to overlap in a horizontal direction and substantially in rectangular relationship to the intermediate shank portion.

In both cases, the end or base of the shank will be reinforced or enlarged to fit any particularly constructed presser feet.

Fig. 9 shows a further embodiment of the in-,- vention. Shank has an extension Bl while a curved portion 62 interconnects extension Bl with the upright portion of the shank. Extension 6i, during the ensuing die-shaping operation, is folded substantially in horizontal direction and'below base portion Ela, so as to form the portion filb. Thus, a reinforced overlap base .63 is obtained which has at its bent end an opening 65 through which a pin (not shown) may be passed for connection with the Ipresser foot. Thus, any drilling operation may be eliminated for bringing about an opening for the connecting pin and it will only be necessary to ream or otherwise widen and finish the aforesaid opening or hole obtained .at the inner bend .of the overlap which opening is directed to extend parallel to the plane of the remainder of saidshank.

The overlapping portions 65a and afiib are so pressed together that a substantially unitary base 63 is'obtained. Opening 65 in the upright portion of the shank may be employed to connect the shank with the presser foot bar, whereas base 63 is adapted for pivotal or fixed connection with the .known presser foot-or shoe proper (not shown).

It is to be observed with respect to the embodiment of Fig. 8 that extension or base All of the shank 40 may be fitted to directly engage the shoe slotof a shoe of .a presser foot to which said shank base may be either pivotally or solidly (by welding) .connected.-

It can thus be seen that there has been provided in accordance with this invention a new method and means for obtaining a shankadaptable for connection with -a shoeof a presser foot, which method may be carried out by simple stamping and die-shaping operations so as to lend itself for (pivotal or solid) connection with various shoe .or presser foot structures.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention, and as many changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, itis tobe understood thatallmatters hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing, are ,to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting'sense.

Having thus described :the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. The process of producing a shank for pivotal connection with the presser foo-t structure of a sewing machine, which consists in forming a shank with an upright mounting anda lower end portion defined by correspondingly shaped side edges, folding said end portion upon itself. about the horizontal axis of said end portion whereby said correspondingly shaped side edgescoincide with each other, respectively, and a reinforced shank base is obtained which is adaptedto' fit the shoe slot of a predetermined presser'foot, and providing a bore in said reinforced shank base perpendicular to the plane of the remainder of said shank for the insertion in said bore of a pin about which said presser foot pivots.

2. A shank connection for the presserifoot of a sewing machine comprising a shank terminating in a base portion at one end of said shank, and extension means overlapping at least partly said base portion and being of the same thickness as that of said shank so as to provide a reinforced shank base fitting a predetermined slot of the presser foot, said reinforced shank base being provided: with pivot means affording swinging connection of said shank base with said presser foot whereby the latter may be swung in a plane 6 parallel to that of said shank, said reinforced shank base including an inner bend adjacent which said pivot means extends.

3. A shank connection for the presser foot of a sewing machine comprising a shank provided with a base portion at one end of said shank and projecting therebeyond and substantially in alignment therewith, extension means. carried by said base portion of said shank andifolded over. said base portion to reinforce the latter, said reinforced base portion being provided with a bore passing therethrough at a location adjacent the bend of said folded over extension means to facil itate pivotal connection of said presser foot with said shank.

FRANK VANADIA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in th file of this patent: 7

, UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 334,814 Slater Jan. 26, 1886 1,581,307 Bali zer et a1 Apr. 20, 1926 1,704,169 Carmichael et a1. Mar. 5, 1929 1,901,752 Karle Mar. 14,1933 2,293,096 Anderson Aug. 18, 1942 

